Attachment for telephone desk sets.



LE ROY D. ALLEN.

- ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONE DESK SETS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC- 20, 913- 1, 172,658. Patented Feb. 22, 1916.

UNITED STATES PATENT onnion.

LE ROY D. ALLEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOIL OF ONE-HALF TO ARTHUR W. HEATH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONE DESK SETS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 22, 1916,

Application filed December 20, 1913. Serial N 0. 807,846.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, Ln ROY D. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Telephone Desk Sets, of which the following 1s declared to be a full, clear, and exact de scription.

This-invention relates to attachments for telephone desk sets, and designs to provide improved means for holding down the receiver hook of a desk instrument which is unprovided with the usual receiver that ac companies a desk set, and in place thereof has a small receiver arranged to be secured over the ear of a user by a strap or other clamp. Receivers of that form are not heavy enough to depress the receiver hook, and it has heretofore been customary to provide the instrument with a weight that may be hung upon the receiver hook to depress it. This invention contemplates a latch, carried by a clip arranged to be secured to the standard of a desk telephone instrument, the latch being capable of being moved over the hook to hold it in depressed condition, and capable of being mox'ed out of engagement therewith to permit the hook to be raised by the spring in the standard.

To such ends this invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

This invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1, is a side view of an ordinary desk telephone instrument, with its receiver hook shown in cross section, and my attachment applied to the instrument; Fig. 2, is a perspective view of the attachment and Fig. 3, i a detail cross section taken on line 3-3, of Fig. 2.

Referring to said drawing 10, designates a desk telephone instrument of ordinary and well known construction, having a base 11, a standard 12, rising therefrom, and a re ceiver hook 13, pivotally mounted in the standard and yieldingly pressed upward in accordance with the usual practice in telephone instruments of this type. The receiver hook is usually held downby the receiver but when a head receiverthat is to saya small receiver provided with a strap or clasp for securing it on the head is used, some other means must be employed for holding down the receiver hook.

In the preferred form of my attachment a clip 14, is employed for securing the attachment to the standard of the instrument, and said clip may comprise two semi-circular halves 15, 15 having cars 16, 17, at their ends, connected by screws 18. One ear 17,

is formed with a latch supporting portion 19, preferably bent at right angles to the ears and located so as to support the latch 20, in proper position with respect to the receiver hook. As shown the latch comprises a strip or bar pivotally connected between its ends to the supporting portion 19, of the clip as by a rivet o-r pin 21, whereby it may be swung back and forth on its support. Its upper end is twisted upon itself and bent at rightangles to its main portion to form a finger 22, that may overlie and engage the receiver hook when the latter has been depressed from its raised position. Preferably the finger is provided with a cushioning member, preferably composed of non-conducting material, and I have here shown a covering piece of chamois skin 23, secured around the finger and part of the main portion. The covering for the finger prevents scratching of the receiver hook whenever the latch is swung into or out of engagement therewith. The lower part of the latch forms a handle 24, by means of which it may be rocked to and fro and is in convenient position to be actuated by the user.

In operation, the clip is secured upon the standard with the latch in position to hold the receiver hook down when in active so gagement therewith. To release the receiver hook the latch is swung back out of its engagement with the hook and rests upon the top of the car 17. After finishing the conversation, the user depresses the receiver hook, and swings the latch forward with its finger over the hook, thus holding the latter down until it is again desired to use the telephone.

More or less variation of the exact details of construction are possible without. departing from the spirit of this invention and I do not therefore desire to limit myself to the exact form of construction shown and described, but intend in the following claim to point out all of my invention.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent An attachment of the character described, comprising a two part clip arranged to extend around the standard of a desk telephone instrument, means for clamping said clip on said standard, one member of said clip having a horizontally extending latch supporting arm bent at right angles to the main portion of the clip, and a vertically extending latch member pivoted to said arm between its ends, on a horlzontal pivot pin,

the upper end of said latch member being bent to extend at right angles to the main 3 portion of said latch member, whereby it .LE ROY D. ALLEN.

Witnesses: ARTHUR W. HEATH, A. ANDERSON. 

